easyJet shareholders approve £5.7bn Apollo takeover, with completion due by March 2027

The shareholder vote

easyJet shareholders approved the takeover by the US investment firm Apollo at a meeting on Wednesday, 11 November 2026. The airline said 97.07% of the capital voted in favour and 2.93% against. The transaction is valued at £5.7bn, or 6.783 billion euros. The vote was a key precondition for the deal, which the Luton-based carrier said is set to complete by the end of March 2027. The approval moves the transaction on to the regulatory stage.

In favour97.07%

Against2.93%

In favour

97.07 %

Against

2.93 %

Data from the article text

Price and the rival bid

Apollo's offer is 715 pence per share, which easyJet's board agreed to in August. Apollo beat Castlelake, another US investment firm, whose proposal of 690 pence per share (821 US cents) valued the airline at £5.5bn. Castlelake walked away from the bidding war in August. Apollo also owns The Restaurant Group, the owner of Wagamama.

Apollo715

Castlelake690

Apollo

715 pence per share

Castlelake

690 pence per share

Data from the article text

The EU ownership hurdle

easyJet is headquartered in the UK but relies on EU licences to run bases and routes inside the bloc. EU rules require that a majority of the capital of airlines holding those licences be held by investors based in the EU. To meet this, easyJet has already suspended voting rights on some stakes held by non-European investors, and shares held by European investors stood at 35.07% at the meeting. Brussels is preparing a review of airline ownership rules aimed at stopping foreign investors from gaining effective control of carriers operating in the EU. The deal also needs approval from EU competition authorities, and after Brexit the airline had capped the share held by non-EU shareholders at 49.5%.

Workforce concerns and the airline's background

The European Works Council at easyJet has voiced concern about the structure of the acquisition. It warned that the new ownership could weaken the airline's ability to hold up and could expose employees to risks. Stelios Haji-Ioannou founded easyJet in 1995 to offer a low-cost alternative to British Airways. He and his family own just over 15% of the business and support the takeover. The airline has long been seen as a takeover target because of its valuable landing rights at London Gatwick, Paris and Geneva, and it competes closely with Ryanair. The wider sector is grappling with high fuel costs and margin pressure tied to the Iran conflict. In Milan, two more Airbus A320s arrive at Linate under a wet lease with ITA Airways, bringing easyJet's fleet at the airport to five aircraft.

Timing and next steps

Completion is expected by the end of March 2027, when easyJet is due to leave the London Stock Exchange after more than 25 years of listing there. The remaining steps are the EU review of ownership rules and the approval of EU competition authorities. The timeline of the deal so far runs from the August board decision to the November shareholder vote and the planned closing.